Jayhawks' losing streak at NU reaches 20

In the fourth quarter, Kansas had a chance to win in Lincoln, Neb., for the first time since 1968. This was not new. Adam Barmann almost won there, twice.

But like in 2006 and 2004, the Jayhawks didn't make a play in the fourth quarter, which is probably not coincidental. That's what happens in Lincoln. If it comes to it, the Huskers make the plays at the end, and you don't.

So, again, Nebraska won, 45-35.

"They're always good at home," Kansas coach Mark Mangino concluded.

The thing was, Kansas made what normally would be enough plays to win a game against a mediocre team. The Jayhawks forced three turnovers and had more than 400 yards of offense.

When the third quarter ended, there were plenty of reasons to think Kansas would win the game. When the fourth quarter began, most of those reasons evaporated.

In hindsight, the game was decided with 14:15 left in the fourth quarter. Kansas was down by three and had the ball with second-and-1. A reverse to Kerry Meier lost seven yards, then on third down Todd Reesing threw a bad pass that missed a wide open receiver. Two plays later, Nebraska's Roy Helu ran 52 yards for a touchdown and a 31-21 lead. Fourteen minutes, one second later, Kansas was 6-4 and, for the first time all season, out of first place in the Big 12 North at 3-3.

"It was a tough play right there, and it was at a crucial point in the game and we gotta make those plays in the fourth quarter," linebacker Mike Rivera said. "We gotta perform when we need to perform."

The game may have saved Nebraska's (6-4, 3-3 Big 12) season, and puts KU in some peril, with games against No. 5 Texas and No. 13 Missouri left. As the Big 12 bowl picture takes shape, a 6-6 Kansas team appears bowl-bound, despite what happened in 2006, when 6-6 KU went without a bowl. But to win the North, the Jayhawks would need to beat Texas and Missouri, and Missouri would need to lose to Iowa State.

Nobody's predicting that.

"We're not in control of our own destiny at this point," safety Justin Thornton said. "So it hurts. We're not playing for the Big 12 North anymore."

All the encouragement KU took from last week's blowout win against Kansas State, Nebraska neutralized. All the things KU did well against K-State — rush the passer, stop the run, run — appear now to have been the result of ingesting the Big 12's ibuprofen, K-State, "the EVERY pain reliever."

Kansas showcased two primary woes against the Huskers: pass protection and tackling. So rushed was Reesing that, including the five sacks he took, he went running 16 times, gaining 77 yards and losing 42. He was so battered he needed treatment after the game. So harried was he that Mangino said KU couldn't even run its full complement of pass patterns.

"They dominated our O-line today," said receiver Dezmon Briscoe, who had six catches for 176 yards. "Tell it like it is."

It is like this: Kansas, its fans anyway, all year long expected Saturday's game to be a win. Nebraska was down and Kansas was up and the Jayhawks had come close in Lincoln on their last two trips. This was to be the year.

"Say what you want, but you could see Nebraska getting better every week," Mangino said. "You could see their defense, their kids getting more and more comfortable with their defensive system. Kids were playing with more confidence.

"I knew this was going to be a battle, and we could not afford to make any mistakes. They made a couple and still overcame it, so credit to them."

Kansas played Nebraska to a 14-14 tie in the first half with record-setting Reesing touchdown passes to Meier and Briscoe and a score-saving interception by linebacker James Holt deep in KU territory with less than a minute left in the first half.

Reesing finished 15-for-30 for 304 yards, becoming the KU career passing yardage leader with 6,632 yards, passing Frank Seurer. Briscoe's touchdown catch gave him school records for touchdown catches in a season (11) and a career (18). He passed Marcus Henry, Willie Vaughn and Bruce Adams, respectively.